BY THE NUMBERS: 4-13 – The Panthers all-time record at the Georgia Dome. The victories came in 1997, then three straight wins from 2005-07.

PANTHERS OFFENSIVE GAME PLAN: Running the football will always be the Panthers’ top priority, but equally important for Carolina is avoiding turnovers – Cam Newton interceptions in particular. Newton has thrown interceptions in 11 games in his 19-game career and the Panthers’ record is 0-11 in those games. Meanwhile, in games in which Newton doesn’t throw interceptions, Carolina is 7-1.

PANTHERS DEFENSIVE GAME PLAN: As Carolina coach Ron Rivera said earlier this week, Atlanta is a talented team that has “a quality quarterback, a quality tight end, a quality receiving corps and quality running backs.” That makes for a daunting challenge for a defense that struggled last year and had three key performers miss all or parts of practice time this week – linebacker Jon Beason (knee) and linemen Greg Hardy (hand) and Antwan Applewhite (knee). A key will be in slowing an efficient offense that has produced points on 17 of its 31 possessions.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH: The Panthers defense on third-down against Falcons QB Matt Ryan. Ryan has led Falcons to 18-of-36 efficiency on third-down so far this season, which ranks 1st in the NFC and 2nd in the entire NFL…

The Falcons secondary against Newton. Atlanta leads the NFL with seven interceptions and one Falcons safety, Thomas McCoud, has more interceptions (3) than the Panthers have as a team (2) and the other, William Moore, has just as many (2)….

Panthers kickoff coverage against the Falcons kickoff return game. After struggling with kick coverage a year ago, the Panthers are third in kickoff coverage so far this season, yielding only 18.3 yards per return. Meanwhile, Atlanta is second in the NFL with a 31.0 average.

NOTABLE: Six Georgians are on the Panthers’ roster, making the game quite a homecoming. They are Newton (College Park), Sherrod Martin (Griffin), Mike Tolbert (Douglasville), Thomas Davis (Shellman), Charles Johnson (Hawkinsville) and Frank Kearse (Savannah). Johnson has particular fond memories of the Georgia Dome, as his high school and college careers ended with victories in the building as well as winning the 2005 SEC championship game over LSU.

A pair of Falcons’ rookies have local ties, as offensive tackle Lamar Holmes last spring became the first Hunter Huss High player to be drafted when Atlanta chose him in the third round of the April draft and former East Carolina quarterback Dominique Davis is a backup quarterback. Davis was the starting quarterback for Fort Scott, Kansas, Community College in 2009 that featured Junior College player of the year Jas Hopkins, a 2006 East Gaston High graduate.

Page 2 of 2 - Atlanta leads the all-time series 22-12, including six wins in the last seven meetings. The 34 regular season matchups trails only New Orleans’ 35 meetings with the Panthers.

With 713 receptions for 10,574 yards, Steve Smith is easily the all-time Panthers’ leading in both categories. It also means Smith ranks 30th all-time in receiving yards (142 yards behind No. 29 Stanley Morgan) and 35th all-time in receptions and just behind a pair of other active players – six behind No. 33 Andre Johnson of the Houston Texans and four behind No. 34 Anquan Boldin of the Baltimore Ravens.

PREDICTION: Atlanta 31, Carolina 21. Falcons are one of the best teams in the NFL right now and it’ll take a solid effort from the Panthers just to stay competitive. Also, it’s hard to imagine Carolina bouncing back from such an embarrassing home defeat to the New York Giants with a road win in Atlanta.